Bapu was
always the soul of courtesy towards young and old, rich and poor. An incident
illustrative of this side of his character was described by Giralda Forbes in
the Catholic World of Calcutta. She had never met Gandhiji before. She
had arrived in Bombay from England and learned that she was to proceed to Lahore
by the next train. The following afternoon she went to the station to board the
train. A porter carried her roll of bedding and luggage. There had been some
delay on the way and she arrived to find the train pulling out. As is well known
trains in India have separate coaches for men and women. There was a single
women's second class coach in the train, but all thefiveberths were
occupied. She hurried frantically up and down the platform looking for room;
there was none. Her eyes fell on an empty coach. It was marked first class, but
she decided to pay the difference and looked around for the guard to make the
arrangement. She did not notice in her hurry that a large placard hung from the
door at the other end of the coach showing that it was 'Reserved'.

The
narrative proceeds : "A knot of Hindu gentlemen were standing talking in front
of the door, and they turned to look at her. One of them stopped her on her
flight and asked if she was in need of help. He was little, very
unprepossessing, and had a toothless mouth that made his smile look ghastly. The
train gave a warning shriek. The little man turned abruptly and made a gesture
of authority, and the guard, who was about to wave the flag, blew his whistle
instead. The harassed missionary explained her predicament, and the knot of
Hindu gentlemen crowded around and showed signs of consternation. The little man
fumbled in the folds of cloth around his waist and produced a ticket. He pressed
it into her hand, and asked for hers. Instantly howls of protest rose on every
side. The little man hushed them, and a crowd collected. The station master came
running to see what was the matter. The little man explained and motioned to the
coolie to put the luggage of the new occupant in the coach, and take his out.

'You
see,' he said to her, 'I did not want to travel first class; but my friends
bought this accommodation without telling me. I am delighted to make the
exchange. I am going to Lahore, and you are going to Lahore, so it is all
right.'

Too dazed
to make any protest the missionary accepted the situation and the toothless one
led the way chuckling to the rear of the train, utterly indifferent to the
furious protests of his friends, while the crowd shouted and laughed, and the
station master pleaded frantically that he must start the train."